We've crossed a few more Halloween updates off our to-do list. If you look at our Halloween Fun Guide, you'll see we now have info on this year's haunted happenings in Westchester, parties and events in Fairfield, Connecticut and a wonderful post about the Bronx Zoo's Boo at the Zoo, which includes a giveaway: four sets of family four-packs to the animal spot. You've got to hurry: We're picking the winners this Monday so enter right away.

Of course Halloween isn't the only game in town. We also updated our post about Columbus Day weekend getaways and staycations just in time for the three-day break, and we took a family walking tour of Chinatown. It's the first in series of posts we are doing on the neighborhood this month.

And that's just a bit of what's going on. Here's what we covered this week on Mommy Poppins in NYC, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut, as well as selected stories from our brand-new sites in Boston and Los Angeles.

Have you ever wondered how the blind are able to make their way around this crazy city we live in? Some days, navigating NYC with perfect vision is tough! Dialog in the Dark, a new exhibit at the South Street Seaport, invites visitors to experience New York City from the point of view (so to speak) of the blind and visually impaired.

When you enter the interactive installation Dialog in the Dark, you're given a white cane to help you find your way and then the lights are turned out—from this point on you're in complete darkness as you're led through several replicas of NYC environments. Each area has its own smells, sounds and things to feel. Part of the fun is figuring out where you are, so I won't give too much away, but I will give you a sense of what it's like.

It’s one for the record books… make that two! This week Southern Californians have the chance to participate in two different world record attempts. First up: Read for the Record. The Santa Monica Public Library joins with book lovers around the world in an attempt to create the largest shared reading experience. This year’s book is Llama Llama Red Pajama, and it’s a real page turner, filled with lots of llama drama. 

If you’re wondering why the word “carnage” is popping up on your happy family go-to site, it’s because this carnage is a very profound and very funny play about parenting. (Or lack thereof.) Tagged as “A Comedy of Bad Manners”, the Mile Square Theater and director Chris O’Connor do an excellent job of bringing to life two sets of parents who attempt to have a civil discussion about their children’s recent altercation. The result is disastrous, hilarious, and nearly as bloody as the title suggests.

One of the great things about fall is the opportunity to move your fun indoors. If bringing your, how shall we put it, "enthusiastic" kids inside a museum sounds like a nightmare, fear not--even the ones that usually bounce off the walls will find stuff to capture their attention and imagination in the Fall 2011 museum exhibits in NJ. Motorcycles, the science of cooking, math as a circus event, whirligigs and whimsy top the list, so don't miss the best New Jersey museums have to offer!

By Monika Nica

Your kids can barely wait to put on their funny-scary-spooky Halloween costumes and hit the streets for some trick-or-treating. Why not spice up this favorite fall holiday with a special Halloween event or party? Something special is coming to most Fairfield County communities this October, as well. Read through our list to select the coolest event for your family for Halloween 2011!

Fencing sometimes gets a bad wrap – plagued by rumors of violence, elitism, and big price tags. Don’t believe any of it! Kids know that fencing is cool because it’s kind of like what Johnny Depp does in all those Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Savvy parents know that it’s the favorite sport of Ivy League sports scholarships. Either way, it’s an extreme sport worth checking out.

Saturday is October 1... do you know what you're doing for Halloween yet? If you've got kids then you know that the holiday lasts pretty much the entire month. In fact, a handful of annual Halloween happenings like the Bronx Zoo's Boo at the Zoo and Hudson Valley's Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze kick off this weekend. (Yes, the pressure is on.)

This week we started to update all of our Halloween posts so that we can share the most up-to-date information. We're still working on it, so if you're wondering about the various annual parades and festivals don't worry: We will have the 2011 details for you soon.

Of course we wrote about lots of other cool, non-Halloween stuff, too, like the Children's Museum of the Arts' brand-new space, which opens to the public on Saturday. Here's what we covered this week on Mommy Poppins in NYC, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut, as well as selected stories from our brand-new sites in Boston and Los Angeles.